Dead Rising (Xbox 360, 2006)

Do you like the idea of being able to grab any item imaginable (And yes literally just about any item imaginable) in a mall and using it as a weapon? Killing thousands upon thousands of zombies sound like a good way to kill some time? If you answered yes to these questions, then this game is for you!

This game does have difficult (VERY difficult without the right weapons) bosses, tight deadlines, and the annoying ringing telling you of additional maniacs, trapped people & general information. Personally if you aren't one that likes to be rushed, I'd recommend just running around and not necessarily worrying about the main quest the first time through. You can do many others, get familiar with the various locations and bountiful selection of weapons, and really get to know where items are and how to get to places fastest in a really well thought out mall environment. The game is all about time-sensitive quests and missions and it is literally impossible to do all of them in one setting. The great thing is, you can restart the game with your same character with the current level you've achieved. Sounds great, right? Well....mostly.

Bad news is you only have one save on your profile. So if you start a new game and decide you want to play the one you had been playing....sadly it is gone. But this is only really a problem for those that want to blow through the game. It takes many hours to cover every single location and to experiment with every single weapon and I highly recommend an experiment in your first run or two just to get use to everything the game has to offer. Also, you can only save your game in a few physical locations in the mall. It can be a pain, because sometimes you'll lose important time running to a save point just so that you can keep your game to continue later. When you are ready to go for the main storyline, my suggestion is DO NOTHING ELSE. If you miss one of those time-sensitive deadlines I mentioned earlier you will have to restart the ENTIRE game as you locked out of future events within the storyline. However the game doesn't just end, you can still play, you just can't complete the main storyline.

Dead Rising is a fantastic concept, but the time constraints do hamper the enjoyablility of the game at times. It is the EXACT opposite of a game like Elder Scrolls (which rocks!), where you can get a quest and come back months later in gameplay time on what sounds like a time sensitive event, and still do it as if there were no time missed at all. It would be nice to have more time to get through the main quest (I still haven't, but I still enjoy the game). I know some will find the game to be difficult and also unnerving in the boss difficulty, the time constraints, and the annoyance at times to be much farther from your next save location or far from a weapon you want/need. Still, while not the deepest game, it does offer some variety, and a very solid challenge for the hardcore gamer. If you are a game completest and want to do everything a game has to offer, this will put you to the test, but can be done with several playthroughs. The game isn't for everyone but even the casual gamer will have many hours of enjoyability just roaming the mall and finding zombies that need that extra special attention that only you and your chainsaw, katana, sledgehammer, scythe, (or other weapon of choice) can provide.

Overall, not a perfect game, but still pretty solid.